Preaching Jesus Christ

Just wanted to send out a quick update regarding the Scott family. We've recently moved from our land in the mountains to a place in Albuquerque. We rented a small apartment in the Hispanic part of town (which is great because I can continue leaning and speaking Spanish). As of now, we've been here for about three weeks. It's been a blessing to be back in an area where I can daily preach the gospel to others. Right now, we fellowship with a brother who moved here with us, and Lord-willing, another family will be moving here soon as well. It's my desire to labor here every day and see the Lord add to our number those who are in Christ.

OCCUPY WALL STREET

If you have been keeping up with the news, you're probably aware of the Occupy Wall Street protests that have been going on all over the country. These are protests where individuals are protesting corporate greed, the rich, social injustice, economic injustice, and a host of other things. Over the last few weeks, the protest has spread from Wall Street to there now being protests in many states across the country. Shortly after we moved here to Albuquerque, I noticed there was an Occupy Wall Street protest taking place at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Every time I would pass by the University, I would see people in the middle of the street and on the median holding up their protest signs. Right behind the protesters is a campus park where many of them spend the nights and stay on the campus grounds in their protest. If you actually get out and talk to the protesters, one thing that you quickly realize is that most of the people are not on the same page. Everyone has a complaint, no one really has any solutions, and there are multitudes of people protesting unrelated issues. The movement itself is supposed to be focused on corporate greed and things related to it, but you'll also see people hold up signs that say "Free Palestine" and the like, which are totally unrelated issues. So after seeing the large number of people involved in the protest, I prayed about it and then started to go there daily to preach the gospel to those involved. I'll share a couple stories from my time there.

One of the first guys I talked to happened to be a young Arab man who had been dancing in the middle of the street and holding a sign that said "Free Palestine." As I was talking to him about his cause, a campus reporter came up to interview us. He interviewed this man first and then wanted to interview me. I told him I wasn't with the protesters and didn't really agree with their cause. He talked with me for a few minutes and then left. As I continued to talk to the Arab man, I pointed out some of the hypocrisy in what he was saying. After not being able to respond, he admitted that he didn't really care about the protest and that he was really just there for the free pizza! As I talked with him more, I learned that he had been kicked out of the army, kicked out of a college in AZ, and he was just kicked out of another school in NM. He had then come to Albuquerque and happened to stumble upon the protest and decided to camp out with them. I then shifted our conversation to talk about morality; and in fact, these protests can be boiled down to one issue: it's about a group of people deciding what is morally right for others to do or not do. I personally think this is great because when the issue is about morality, it's an easy way to talk about where morals come from and then to talk about Jesus Christ. So in a short amount of time, I was able to talk to this man about absolute truth that comes from God alone and then talk to this man about the truth of Jesus Christ. Though he was defensive at times, overall he was receptive and listened. In fact, for the next three days, we picked up this young man, brought him over to our place for dinner, and spent hours talking about the word of God and his need for Christ. There was definitely a battle going on inside him, as you could see that one minute he seemed humbled by God's word and able to see his need for Christ, and then the next minute he would be defensive and become almost a different person. After three days of reasoning with this man about Christ, I was driving to the store to buy some groceries. I was listening to the local news, and they were talking about how a protester had been arrested for battery, trespassing, and disorderly conduct. I just knew it was this man because of the anger I had seen in him. (He had told me before that he was against the peaceful protest and wanted to start burning cars and looting stores.) Sure enough, it was him. We had given him a Bible, and my prayer and hope was that he would read it while he was in jail. I saw him after he was released, but his heart seemed to have gotten harder. He had to leave town for a few days but said he would come by our place when he returned. Just yesterday, he came by our house while we were out and left a note on our door. Lord-willing, we'll be able to spend more time with him and continue to point him to Jesus Christ.

Aside from him, I've talked to all kinds of people at the protest. People that outright reject God, people that don't care, a college professor, and some that some that seem as if God has specifically prepared them to be open and hear the gospel. In fact, one of the guys I talked to yesterday was a man who was totally open to everything about Christ. There was a group of Mexicans and Native Americans that were arguing with someone about something. I walked over to them and passed out some gospel tracts, and this one young man just stopped, sat down, and read the whole tract (while everyone else continued arguing). When he was done, he looked at me and said, "That was really good." I was able to spend the next two hours talking to this one man about the gospel of Jesus Christ. This man saw his need for Christ and saw that he was unconverted, even though he did believe in Jesus Christ. The Lord helped this man see his true condition, and this man did see that God was appealing to him through me. It was wonderful to talk to him.

I talked to another man who professed to be a believer but confessed that he was a backslider. I asked him to share his testimony, but like many who profess Christ, he didn't have one. He was a false convert. I shared the gospel with him and his need to believe and follow Christ. He said he wanted to finish traveling and seeing other cities, and then he would seek Christ. So he basically wanted to satisfy all his fleshly desires before seeking the Lord. I began to open up the scripture and show him what he was really saying, how he was treating God -- that because he said he had understanding of the gospel and claimed to be a follower of Christ, he was in fact trampling the blood of Christ under his feet and subjecting him to an open shame. I really sensed the Spirit of the Lord, and God's jealousy, as I shared with this man. After a couple minutes of sharing, he was slowly backing up, and then he said he didn't want to talk anymore. He was looking to leave our conversation in a hurry. I warned and exhorted him as he left. The word of God was definitely having an effect on this man. To some we're the smell of death, and to others we're the fragrance of life. (2 Cor. 2:16)

NEIGHBORHOOD

While I definitely enjoy preaching and evangelizing at the Occupy Wall Street event, our main ministry focus is going to be in the Hispanic neighborhoods that I live by. I'll be ministering daily in this area, and Braden will be joining me on weekends. Right now, we have a fellowship meeting on Sundays and are planning to have a Bible study during the week and another on Sunday evenings. God has already given us a lot of favor here, and we are praying and believing the Lord IS going to save people and bring them into his kingdom.

ROB BELL

As many of you know, I created a site to respond to Rob Bell's book, "Love Wins." The site has given me many opportunities to share with people who support Rob Bell and believe what he teaches. The greatest opportunity it has given me is to share and help other see how to read biblical passages in context. So many people just accept what a supposed minister of God teaches without examining the context of the verses being used. Being able to help people see the truth in the Bible for themselves has been a great blessing, one that I hope will produce lasting fruit in people's lives. While I certainly don't claim to be one that has the biblical gift of teaching, it should go without saying that one who does have that gift (or those who teach) should want to achieve more than just imparting biblical truth to people. Of course biblical teachers are going to want to teach biblical truth, but if that's all they do, then I don't think they've really accomplished all that God would have them accomplish with the gift he has given them. Hopefully, teachers will see that in addition to teaching biblical truth, they should desire to teach others to teach themselves. This is how believers can really see lasting fruit in others' lives -- teaching them how to rightly divide God's word. Thankfully, this is what the www.HellsBell.net site has allowed me to do. In spite of the fact that the vast majority of responses to the site have been negative and against it, it has allowed me to engage people in conversations that deal with understanding the scriptures by reading them in context. If believers can help others do this very thing, it will keep many people from being deceived and from believing things that God does not teach. I am hoping that God will continue to draw visitors to the site and allow me to speak with them about His word.

180 THE MOVIE

On a side note, I want to encourage you to watch Ray Comfort's new movie called "180." It's a thirty minute movie on youtube that shows the "spirit" and reasoning behind so many people that support abortion. Ray Comfort will take you to another time in history when people began to accept subtle lies. He shows how the results of believing these lies led to the destruction of masses of people, just as abortion does today. And of course, as Ray always does, he ties everything back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope you'll watch it and share it with others.

This primarily concerns and affects those who send financial support to us, or to the missionaries we support, through Mission Projects. As of now, Mission Projects is no longer a non-profit organization. They are still a Missions organization, but they currently do not have status as a non-profit. Any funds sent to them for support are no longer tax deductible. This doesn't mean that funds cannot be sent to them; it just means that the donation won't be tax deductible. As of now, I don't have another option for those who wish to send financial support and receive a tax deduction for their gift. If this isn't a concern for you, and you wish to continue supporting the work we do, you can still send your support to Mission Projects, and they will still send the full amount to us. (Though Mission Projects is not a non-profit, they do not profit off of any support they receive.) Or if you prefer, you can send your support directly to our PO BOX and simply make your check out to myself.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and want to thank each of you that do support us in the work we do. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to email me. Also, if you'd like to help or want to know of any of our specific needs as they relate to evangelism and preaching here, you can email me directly, and I'll be glad to share how you can help.

Again, I want to thank each of you that support us through your giving and prayers. Through your giving and prayers, the Lord has always supplied us with what we need to do what He's called us to do. If you will, please keep our ministry here in prayer. Please pray for me as I preach in this community and seek for the Lord to grow his church. Please pray that God would continue to give us favor and direct our steps as we reach out with the gospel of Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you all.

Comments

Linda Taylor

11/15/2011 12:55

It is so refreshing to read you rightly dividing the word. I have just read some of the Rob Bell article. I have been out of church for 3 years and just went and joined a group I used to meet with. I left them twice because of false teaching. They are lovely people but completely caught up in false teaching and don't want to listen to the truth. They seem so humble , yet are so deceived. I have recently been silenced in the nicest way, so pleasantly done, so I'm afraid I have to leave them once again. It has been encouraging to see you dissect Rob Bell's book and I've gained an insight on how the deception is worked, just like with the serpent.

Thanks, I found your website today. God Bless you in all that you are doing.